Hoeton weight



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE;J

HORTON WRIGHT, OF AKRON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF ND O. D. CHILDS.

MUSICAL STAFF.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 104,393, dated June 14, 1870.

To all whom, it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, HoEToN WRIGHT, of Akron, in the county of Summit and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Im.- provement in Musical Staffs; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

Figures l, 2, and 3 represent different arrangements of my improvements.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

This invention has for its object and consists in drawing the lines of the staff to correspond, essentially, with the key-board of'a musical instrumentsuch as a piano, melodeon, &c.-or so as to be identical with said keyboard.

' In the arrangement of the keyboard, the black keys (bei ng flats or sharps) are in groups of three and two alternately, while the keys representing` the letters are white', there being a black key between each one of them, except between B C and between E F, in which position no i'lat or sharp occurs.

In forming my improved staff, I draw the lines in groups in the same order in which the black keys are placed upon the key-board, each line being the flat to the letter above it, or the sharp to the letter below it, the spaces representing the letters. The spaces between the groups of three and two lines should be about twice the width of the other spaces to represent the two white keys, E F being below the group of three lines, and B C below the group of two lines, as shown in Fig. 2. This arrangement of the staff has some great advantages over the old staff-asy for instance, in the old plan there are two distinct staffs lettered entirely different from each other. In my improved plan there is really but one, always lettered the same, and which may be extended or contracted to any desired compass, and upon which a piece of music of different parts may be written, all in a body or in separate detached sections. In transposing the scale, the notes are written upon the staff just as they are to be played on, the keys of the instrument, doing away with all the confusing complications in transposing` bythe signature oi' dats and sharps, there being in fact no use for these characters.

In Fig. l is represented a staff in sections. In Fig. 3 is represented a staff of five loctaves for the music for the instrument, and another of less compass for the music for the voice. In Fig. 2 is shown a staff of three octaves,

board, the bottom or lower side representing the left of the instru1nent,` the spaces representing the letters, and the' lines the iiats or sharps, as the case may be, each line being the sharp to the letter below and the i'lat to the letter above it, or, in other words, the spaces represent the white keys and the lines the black keys of the instrument. The wide spaces above the group of three lines, and E F above the group of two lines. It should be observed that this arrangement ot' staff is adapted to musical notes of all kinds, whether round notes7 figure-faced notes, patentnotes,7 or any other kind.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- An improved staff for music, formed substantially as herein shown and described that is to say, in groups of three and two lines, with wide spaces above each group-as and for the purpose set forth.

IIORTON VRIGHT.

Witnesses:

ROBERT McCoY, WM. IVI. CUNNINGHAM.

which is substantially identical with the keyeach represent two letters or white keys, B C, 

